Smallville: Redux
by UnknownUnseenUnheard
Summary: Time Travel. After a rescue attempt goes horribly wrong, Clark lays dying in Chloe's arms. As she frantically tries to save him, a little 'divine' intervention ends up whirling them back in time a full ten years to 2005. Can they get back to were they are desperately needed, or are they stuck now, trapped in the bodies of their younger selves?
1. We Fall Together

A/N; I'm just going to state a few things now as this whole thing is starting up.

Clark and Lois are together at the beginning of the story. Ollie and Chloe, however, are not. The reason why is explained later on. And yes, I know Chloe had a kid by 2015 in canon, but, for simplicity's sake, I'm not factoring the kid in the story as said kid was never even given a name.

Clark and Chloe are my favorite pairing- _as __friends. _Not as a couple. In the earlier seasons, it would have been fine. However, after the point where Clark and Lois got together, the concept of Clark and Chloe seemed far fetched. Just so we're clear, this will not be a romance story between the two, so, if that's what you are looking for you have come to the wrong place.

Also note that this is a re-post due to some heavy editing I have planned. This is all really due to a certain obsession of mine were I like to have absolutely everything interconnect. By everything, I mean all my stories. My original stories all connect in some way, and my fan fiction stories all happen to exist within the same mashed up universe. As I'm reorganizing absolutely everything, this story, along with a few others, were on the list of 're post now'.

Anyways, on with the story.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**We Fall Together**

_**August 5th, 2015**_

Her heart was thumping frantically.

There was a gun pointing at her head.

But, that wasn't what mattered, wasn't why there was fear pumping in her veins. The fear wasn't for her. It wasn't for her at all. She'd been face to face with death time and time again, she held no fear for herself. Sure, she didn't want to go, she wanted to stay. After all, who just wants to lay back and let the world kill them?

No, she was a fighter. But, she also knew when it was time to just accept the facts. And, right now, death was the better option. She didn't want to be saved, because she could see the glint in the eyes of her captor as they shined with malice.

Her mind continued the endless mantra, the chant she had practically adopted.

_'Don't come, don't come. Damn it Clark, don't come for me. Leave me, I'm not worth it, leave me here, leave damn it!'_

The seconds were ticking past.

"Where's your hero now?" the man before her sneered viciously.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

If she could just get close enough, just close enough, she had enough training to get the gun away from him. But she couldn't. She was trapped up against the wall as he pointed the gun at her.

Four seconds, five seconds, six seconds...

_'Don't come, Clark. Don't, don't, don't! _Her mind was screaming.

Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two...

She could see it in his eyes, see it as they glistened with madness.

This was a trap.

This was a trap, and, as she heard the doors breaking and Superman's booming voice demanding that Lex Luthor let her go, she knew Clark had just walked right into it...

"NO!" she screamed. The fear wasn't for herself. It wasn't for herself at all.

BANG.

The air around them was practically torn as Clark shot forward. Running faster than the eye could see, he first grabbed Lex and shoved him away, hard, before jumping in-front of the bullet, just as Lex _knew _Clark would.

Clark grunted and gave out a pitiful yelp as he fell back, as he collapsed, blood falling from his chest onto his Superman suit as he felt the Kryptonite rip right through him. Chloe screamed as she watched him collapse.

Frantically, she ran up to him and turned him over.

"Chloe..." he hissed in pain.

"I knew you'd come for her." Lex spat as he rose.

Chloe turned and glared at him, her heart filling with complete and utter hatred of the man she had once called friend.

There were shouts outside, the sound of a battle echoing forward from the rest of the compound. Clark wasn't the only member of the Justice League here attempting to rescue Chloe Sullivan, aka Watchtower, but, ultimately, he was the target of this little charade.

In fact, she was sure this wasn't the only one of Lex's many facilities currently being assaulted at the moment. But, this was the facility that held her, and, of course, Clark, idiot he was, had come straight to her instead of sending someone more practical, someone who wouldn't collapse on the ground in withering agony at the presence of a mere stone which Lex seemed to own with increased abundance.

Suddenly, something caught Chloe's eyes. She glance a little to her right at a faint green glow. The bullet. It had pierced, through and through. Without a second of hesitation, she shot forward, grabbed it, turned, and flung it as hard as she could to the opposite of the room before Lex could even think of trying to stop her.

Clark gasped and Chloe glanced down as the wounded healed itself.

"No!" Lex snarled. Superman would not survive this day. He would ensure himself of that. He would ensure himself that this day, the Man of Steel would be no more as he pulled a dagger out made of a special ore he had taken months to even find.

Gold Kryptonite.

Emil Hamilton had been very unresponsive when Lex demanded to know Superman's greatest weakness. Lex, however, had many allies. Psimon, a powerful psychic at Lex's disposal, had all but destroyed the good doctor's mind, crawling through it's depths to discover the one weapon that would strip the Man of Steel of his powers forever. In hindsight, Lex supposed that allying himself with Inter-dimensional demons(Trigon) and the leader of Apokolips itself(Darkseid) was a bit haphazardly, but, it got him the results he wanted, so he wouldn't question it now.

Superman quickly rose. The wound still burned, and there was still some residue Kryptonite inside of him, but it wasn't enough to slow him down.

Lex dropping a blue meteor rock on the floor, however...

"COME ON!" Lex screamed at Superman. Really, he hadn't gone through all the trouble in putting together an entire League of Supervillans together and setting up an elaborate trap to not kill his greatest nemesis now. Currently, while there were still a few Justice League members battling it out here, most of them were scattered all over the planet with all the chaos Lex had stirred while getting this plan into motion.

"Superman, don't!" Chloe held him back, pointing at the dagger in Lex's hands. Clark recognized it for what it was instantly, quickly hiding his shock. How the hell did Lex manage to-

"Fight me, or I kill her." Lex snapped impatiently, lifting the gun once more and pointing it at Chloe.

"Why don't you just shoot me again?" Clark countered, causing Chloe to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. Seriously? Did he want to get himself killed!

"Because," Lex said casually, "I want to see. I want to see the light die in your eyes as I kill you."

"Superman-" Chloe warned.

Lex fired a warning shot above their heads.

"Getting impatient here." Lex informed them, as if they didn't already know.

"Clark, DON'T!" Chloe bellowed as the idiot charged. Sure, he had all the training Jor-El had to offer, and, even stripped of his powers, was a formidable opponent, but still, what the hell? Chloe didn't even realize her slip until a moment too late, but she found that she did not care. Not now, anyways.

Superman swung at Lex, but the other man dodged and slashed.

Blood.

Superman attempted to grab Lex's knife hand, trying to get the dagger out. Lex, however, was a well trained opponent, and he twisted, turned, and managed to land a good kick on Clark, sending the other man backwards.

Then, Lex did something neither Clark nor Chloe had expected. He kicked away the blue Kryptonite, causing it loose it's glow, before turning to Clark. Slipping his hand in his pocket, he quickly drew a green one instead.

_'Where the hell does he get all these!' _Chloe mentally screamed as she watched Clark fall to his knees.

"NO!" at which point she ran at Lex.

But, she wasn't fast enough. She wasn't quick enough.

And, she watched helplessly as Lex Luthor plunged the knife made of Golden Kryptonite into the body of Clark Kent, her best friend, the man she had once loved and the man she had come to view as a brother in all things save blood, her hero.

Clark screamed in agony.

His back arched backwards as Lex backed away, grinning in satisfaction. It was easy, almost too easy, too good to be true. But, years had payed off, and now, he had finally done it. Clark's eyes took on a golden tinge, light itself practically exploded from within him and he glowed. He glowed, every vein on his body popping out before it was done, and the Man of Steel fell...

He, Lex Luthor, had overcome Superman. He, a mere mortal, had brought a God to his knees.

"No, no, Clark! CLARK! CLARK!" Chloe knelt before her friend, heart wrenching sobs ripping from her as she pulled the dagger out and tossed it away.

"Chlo..." he gasped as she gripped his fallen frame, shaking him back and forth as more sobs escaped her.

Clark... As in Kent? Clark Kent? Clark Kent was Superman? Lex's eyebrows shot into his none-existent hair. Even he hadn't seen that one coming. After all, who would suspect such a bumbling bafoon to be a walking talking god?

"Clark, damn it Clark, damn it you are not going to die, you hear me? YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE!" Chloe hollered.

Lex laughed cruelly as Clark whimpered.

"He's already dead, sweetheart." he told her.

Chloe ignored the other man as she placed her hand on Clark's chest. It had been a while since she'd done this. She's remembered thinking she'd lost her powers after Braniac. In all honesty, she had, for a while. It had only been years later, when she, by accident, healed Ollie that she realized her powers had returned to her.

And she would be damned if she didn't save her friend now.

"Chlo, don't." Clark gasped out.

The look of glee and triumph written on Lex's face began to fade as he watched in confusion.

"Shut it, Kent." Chloe snapped before closing her eyes. Her hand began to glow with brilliant blinding angelic white-light. Then, she screamed. Again. This time, it was Chloe's back that arched. This time, she was the one in pain. She'd healed others before, even Clark, but not like this. This was different. This was something she had never experienced before, because, usually, the pain came afterward, but not this time.

Chloe's eyes had snapped open and they glowed in her power. Her iris' took the tinge of a white star, brilliant and eternal, as she attempted to heal the Kryptonian at her feet.

"What are you doing!" Lex demanded, watching as white light glowed from were Chloe had her hand placed on Clark's chest, engulfing the wound. She was healing him, Lex quickly realized with horror. "NO!" he bellowed, moving to pull her off when an unseen force suddenly lifted him and slammed him into the wall.

He felt a hand around his throat and looked up into the eyes of Tess Mercer.

"Hello brother..." she squeezed.

"I... Got rid... Of you..." Lex gasped.

"I'm a ghost. Not real easy to get rid of, and you killed me Lex."

"I'm sure I had a reason."

"You were under the delusion you were saving me." Tess shrugged, ignoring Chloe's agonized moans behind her as she tried to heal the unnatural wound that plagued Clark.

His skin began to glow again, like when the dagger had first plunged into him. But, this time, it as different. It felt different, very different.

Tess watched as Lex slumped up against the wall, the loss of air to much for him, and she let him drop before turning to the other two. They wouldn't survive, neither of them. Chloe's powers were still on the fritz, and even still, Lex had plunged the knife in too deep.

There was only one thing she could think of doing.

Walking up to Chloe, she knelt beside the other woman. Chloe, believing Tess to be Lex, tried to strike the spirit away before she realized who it was. Her jaw dropped for half a second before she remembered Clark, quickly returning to work.

Tess was going to sacrifice herself. Her spirit would fade, and finally be in peace, but, should it work, she'd give both Clark and Chloe the strength to carry on as she placed a hand on each of them, even as Chloe continued her vigorous attempts to heal the unhealable wound.

Tess bit her tongue as pain filled her, but she had expected it. Then, she smiled. She was finally going to rest. After so long, she could rest.

There was a bright flash as Tess Mercer was no more, and an even brighter flash as the completely unexpected happened.

Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan were no more... They were gone. Just gone...

* * *

_**August 5th, 2005**_

Clark's eyes shot open as he gasped loudly like a man just plunged out of the water, rising up quickly on his bed. Clark gave a great pant, breathing in air to his greatly depleted lungs. He glanced down at his chest, his hand quickly moving down to were the wound from Lex's knife should have been.

He howled out in pain when he found it.

It was still there. He could feel his strength slowly returning to him slowly, but the scar was still there. Gold Kryptonite, the one thing on the damn planet that could leave an actual scar on him. Silently, he remembered Clark Luthor, and his own Gold K scar. Still, the other retained his powers despite it. Clark wondered if he would to?

"Clark?" a voice asked softly, laced with concern.

Clark's eyes became wide as he turned his head slowly towards the source. The second he recognized her, instinct took over and he jumped straight out of bed, quickly moving to flatten himself against the wall.

"Lana, what the hell are you doing here?" he gasped out.

She recoiled back, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Clark looked at her in confusion, before looking around.

His room.

They were in his room.

What?

"Clark, what is wrong with you?" Lana snapped at him, rising up a bit, holding up the blanket to cover herself.

Realization lit in his eyes.

"Lana, what year is this?" he asked her.

"Excuse me?"

"Please, answer the question Lana."

Lana continued to stare at him before she rose up from the bed. The tears she had almost shed were gone as she walked up slowly towards Clark, her eyes lit with concern.

"Clark-"

"Stay back." Clark commanded.

And the tears were back, glistening in her eyes. Slowly, she began to shake her head at him. "What is wrong with you, Clark Kent?"

"You're poison." the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She gaped at him. "Excuse me?"

"No, that's not what I- God, Lana, just tell me the year!" Clark demanded.

Lana shook her head in disgust, fighting back the urge to break down right there, right now. The best night of her life, and Clark was ruining it. She didn't know what was wrong with him right now, she didn't know what was going on inside that stupid male brain of his, but she wasn't going to put up with it. Lana began picking up her clothes, quickly slipping them on.

"Get out of my way." she said coldly. It was then that Clark realized he was pressed against the door. Quickly, he moved. Lana walked up to it, placed her hand on the handle, before looking up at him.

"I don't know what's going through your head right now, I don't know what's wrong with you right now, and I seriously want to help you Clark, but I just don't know how. When you're ready to explain, and if you want to save this relationship, you better call me." she told him, before looking away, turning the knob.

"Lana, wait." Clark pleaded.

Her hand stopped, but she did not look at him. She was waiting, hoping, for an apology. What she got instead, however, made her nearly boil over in rage.

"What year is it?"

Lana turned her head and full out glared at him.

"2005." she replied icily before swinging the door open and storming down the stairs.

"Lana, wait!" Clark chased after her, his theory confirmed.

Somehow, he'd traveled ten years into the past. How, he had no idea. The last thing he remembered was his fight with Lex. Then, there was an angel. Everything had been so bright, blindingly so, before he had suddenly awoke in his bed five minutes ago.

His mind was putting two and two together fairly quickly, and he internally groaned, realizing the day and what he had just ruined. This was the day he and Lana had woken up together after they had made love for the second time, and the last time while they were both still, for lack of a better word, human. No wonder she was reacting like this, and he couldn't blame her, not really.

"I don't want to hear it!" she snapped.

Jonathan and Martha looked at each other in shock as they watched first Lana, then their son, who was still clad in his underwear, coming down the stairs.

"Lana, please, let me explain." Clark grabbed her shoulder as they reached the kitchen, right in front of his parents.

She wheeled around and glared at him.

"Fine. Explain. NOW." Lana demanded.

"Clark, Lana?" Martha gasped.

Clark turned to look at his mother before his eyes landed on his father. Jonathan Kent's eyes were going off like firecrackers at the moment, but the second Clark saw him, the world froze around him. Tears began to fall down his cheeks, and the anger in Jonathan's eyes was replaced by confusion at his son's reaction to even looking at him. Clark was staring at him... Staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost, or, more specifically, was staring right at one.

"Dad... You're alive..." Clark whispered, but everyone heard him.

"What?"

Clark didn't answer as he walked forth and gripped his father in a tight hug, refusing to let go, tears streaming down his face.

Lana shook her head. Part of her was concerned for Clark, part of her wanted to help him, but his words kept echoing inside her skull endlessly.

_Stay back, you're poison... Poison, poison, poison... _He sure as hell acted like she was poison, she thought bitterly.

That hurt more than she'd like to admit.

Jonathan reluctantly wrapped his arms around his son, confusion replacing his former anger.

At that moment, the front door swung open and Chloe marched in wearing pajamas and bunny slippers.

"Clark!" she cried.

Clark let go of his father before turning to look at his friend. Her eyes were wide, had a desperate edge to them before, finally, they fixed on him.

"Clark!"

"Chloe!"

Soon, they were holding each other, tears streaming down both of their faces before Chloe suddenly let go and began to hit him, repeatably. The other three occupants of the room looked back and forth between each other, wondering what the hell was going on. Lana's currently theory involved Clark and Chloe ingesting several different pills mashed together along with a heavy stream of hallucinogens.

"Owe, owe, Chlo!" Clark lifted his hand as she continued to pummel him.

"Damn it, Clark, damn it! I told you to leave me, I told you to let me die! Why do you always have to be the freaking hero!" Chloe screeched, her eyes growing puffy and red.

Clark managed to grab her arms, even as she continued to struggle against him, trying to hit him some more.

"I wasn't going to leave you to die, Chloe!" he retorted.

"No, you were just going to die in my arms... Again!" Chloe countered as she ripped her hands from his grip, backing up and glaring.

"Okay, what the HELL IS GOING ON!" Lana's voice made everyone jump a mile in the air.

Clark looked over at Chloe.

"Don't." she warned him.

Clark looked back at Lana, then to his mother, then his father. Lana was staring at him as if he'd lost his mind. His parents, on the other hand, looked like they were seriously considering puling out the Kryptonite in the back.

"Clark-" Chloe's voice was not heeded.

"We're from the future."

At which point, Chloe decided to resume her assault on her currently mortal best friend.

* * *

A/N; the whole Tess-is-a-ghost thing is not something I actually came up with. Apparently, in the comic book continuation of the series, Tess' ghost actual does take to haunting her murderous older brother, which is were I got the idea to toss her in.

As for the episode I tossed them into, I wanted one were Clark was mortal. Not just mortal, but one were he was mortal for a while. As in months. I had two options; Season 8 and Season 5. I went for Season 5. Why the mortality thing played such a factor will be explained later.

Please review.

Goodnight!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N; personally, I find this chapter amusing. It was kind of fun to write. Anyways, thanks guys for all the reviews and feedback so far. Shuttign up now! On with the story.

* * *

"Okay, what the HELL IS GOING ON!" Lana's voice made everyone jump a mile in the air.

Clark looked over at Chloe.

"Don't." she warned him.

Clark looked back at Lana, then to his mother, then his father.

"Clark-" Chloe began.

"We're from the future."

At which point, Chloe decided to resume her assault on her currently mortal best friend.

**..**

"Chlo, stop!" Clark snapped, finally getting annoyed as he pushed her away from him, hard. She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just... Just calm down, please." he pleaded.

Her glare did not waver, not even for a second, and, just as she opened her mouth to resume her yelling at him once more was when she finally noticed. When she finally noticed the way Clark was slowly swaying back in forth, the way his hands seemed to be deliberately avoiding his chest, and just a rumor of pain painted onto his farm-boy face.

Her eyes zoomed in on his chest instantly before she looked back up at him, concern dancing in her emerald eyes.

"Clark-" Chloe began, before being rudely interrupted.

"That is it. I'm done! I don't know what the hell the two of you are on, but I'm done!" Lana waved her arms dramatically before striding towards the door.

"Lana, wait-" Clark called as she opened the door.

Lana stopped, turned, and looked him straight in the eyes, letting the door shut behind her.

"The truth. The truth, or I'm leaving." Lana gave her ultimatum.

"I already told you the truth. We're from the future, Lana." Clark informed her again.

She stared at him. Just stared. Did he really think she was that stupid? He and Chloe were both obviously on something, that much was certain. Before she could voice her thoughts, Martha's voice broke the silence.

"Son, are you hurt?" Martha's keen eyes focused on her child.

Lana blinked. What?

"No, of course he isn't! He just managed to get himself stabbed, yet again, but no mom, he's perfectly fine!" Chloe snapped.

Lana stared. Did Chloe just call Martha Kent... Mom?

Clark glared at her. "What did you want me to do, huh? Stand aside and watch him kill you?"

"You should have left me! The world doesn't need me, I don't matter, don't you get that! The world doesn't need me, but it needs you!" Chloe retorted.

Clark strode forward, gripped her shoulders in his hands, and yelled right back. "I need you, Chloe! I need you! You, Lois, Oliver- the three of you are the only damn thing on this Earth keeping me going, so I don't damn well care what you say, if you're in danger, I'm not going to just stand aside!"

"You thick headed, stupid, bloody alien!" she ripped away from his grip and slapped him.

Jonathan and Martha gaped at Chloe. Did she just say what they thought she said?

"Alien?" Lana repeated incredulously, her eyes going wide.

Chloe quickly realized her mistake. Her eyes met with Clark's, who was currently glaring with such intensity that Chloe was sure he'd have lit her on fire if his powers had been currently been intact at this point.

Chloe turned to look at Lana. "Please, boys are thick headed, but Clark? Don't even get me started! Really, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I found out he was from another planet from a galaxy far far away."

Lana narrowed her eyes, suspicion playing out in them. Her mind instantly thought back to those things that had come from the Black Ship, those aliens. But Clark couldn't possibly be one of them, she quickly realized, glancing up at her Boyfriend. If Clark had been anything like those things, had anywhere near their capabilities and powers, he would have easily managed to overpower those three insane Meteor Freaks that had attacked them last week.

Silence fell on them as no one spoke.

Johnathan was the one to break it.

"Let me get this straight... You're both from the future... And you're angry because Clark saved your life?"

Chloe blushed. When you put it like that... It really did make her sound like the bad guy. After all, here was a guy willing to risk his life to save her, and, instead of gratefulness, she was pissed beyond Hell's greatest fury.

Silence.

Martha's eyebrows scrunched up.

"Did you call me... Mom?" she blinked up at Chloe.

Chloe blushed even redder, turning to look at the other woman.

"Sorry. Force of habit."

Three of five blinked at that.

Chloe then turned back to look at Clark before her hands shot to the hem of his shirt.

"Chlo!" he quickly batted her hands away.

"Please, were both adults here, now let me see Clark!" Chloe snapped.

"Excuse me?" Lana huffed.

Chloe closed her eyes. She had forgotten how annoying Lana could be. She loved the other girl like a sister, she really did, but sometimes... 'Please, Lord, give me patience', she prayed. Shaking her head, and resisting the urge to smack the other girl, she turned.

"He's hurt, Lana." she said calmly before turning back to look at Clark. "Now. Let. Me. See." she commanded.

Clark shivered. Superman or not, Chloe and Lois both had a strange way of terrifying him. He supposed it had something to do with their shared genes.

"Fine." he grumbled, lifting up his shirt slightly.

Martha gasped loudly and Jonathan, who was somehow still sitting, jumped to his feet instantly.

"Oh, baby!" Martha cried, rushing forth.

"Mom-"

"Don't touch it!" Chloe warned just as Martha was about to place a wet cloth over it.

Lana, curious, walked back towards them, trying to see around Chloe. She gasped out loud as she saw the wound. It looked more like a scar now, but still, the image it presented...

Jutting out precisely were Lex had stabbed Clark were thick burn marks, spreading out from the center like the roots of a tree. The skin around it looked gray, looked like it was dying. The worst, however, was the epicenter of the damage. The stab wound itself was a deep black, absorbing all light that came into contact with it.

Considering what Clark had been stabbed with, the wound could have been far worse...

Jonathan wheeled his son around to look at him. "What. Happened. Clark."

"Move." Chloe commanded. In all honestly, years of sitting behind a computer screen and coordinating Watchtower had left a bitter sting on her. She was cold, commanding, impatient, and, at times, insufferable.

She gripped Clark's shoulder, moved her other hand positioning it above the wound, and-

"No." Clark pushed her away, backing up.

"Clark, I need to heal it." Chloe sighed.

"You can hea-"

"Yes, Lana. I'm a Meteor Freak." Chloe informed the girl, exasperated. God, she couldn't wait for the day Lana Lang finally grew up. Sadly, that day wouldn't come for another few years. As long as Clark Kent and Lana Lang were around each other, they seemed to have strange sort of effect on one another that left them as immature as Saturday morning cartoons.

Lana recoiled back in shock.

Chloe sneered.

"Please, you're one too."

"Excuse me?"

"Lana, you're a Meteor Freak." Chloe turned and sent a very false smile at the other girl.

"No I'm-" Lana began.

"Lana, you wore a Meteor rock necklace around your neck for over half your life. What did you think was going to happen?" Clark sighed, looking up at her.

Lana blinked in surprise and shock.

"What can I... Do?" she asked slowly.

"You release pheromones." Chloe told her matter-a-fact.

"Meaning?"

"All those stalkers you've had over the years? There's a reason they all chose you as their targets. Including a certain someone I know..."

"Hey!" Clark glared. Chloe knew perfectly damn well that he was immune to said pheromones due to the fact that he wasn't technically human.

"Anyways," Chloe continued, ignoring the gaping Lana as she turned to face Clark. "Move your hand, and let me heal you."

"No." Clark remained adamant.

"Clark-" Chloe groaned.

"You know how you said you had to watch me die in your arms, again?" Clark interrupted. Before she could even open her mouth to speak, he continued. "That's the exact same thing I have to go through every time you try and heal someone, especially me! So, no Chlo, I'm not going to let you try and heal me, and you can't make me." he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly.

Chloe closed her eyes. 'Don't break down, don't break down, don't break down...' She mentally chanted. Ever since they got here, she'd been resisting the urge to just fall on the ground, curl into a ball, and let out endless sobs.

She opened them again, and stared at him. Her eyes glistened with the tears that threatened to spill forth.

"Clark... I'm the reason you got hurt. Me. It was a trap, and you walked straight into it. Now, please, let me-" Chloe begged.

"I knew it was a trap." Clark scoffed.

Chloe stared at him. The anger was coming back.

"Then why the Hell did you walk straight into it!"

"Because, I already told you." Clark replied calmly, finally uncrossing his arms as he looked at her firmly. "I was not going to leave you to die."

That was it. The tears. They started to fall as Chloe shook her head. No, damn it, no! Didn't he know that she wasn't worth it? Didn't he know that the world needed him? Didn't he know how it would tear her up inside if something ever happened to him because he'd been trying to save her?

'Of course he does,' she thought bitterly, 'he just doesn't care.'

Clark walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. At first, she struggled, but then she remembered his wound and stilled. A sob ripped past her lips as she gripped him tight, dug her head on his shoulder, and let the waterworks fall.

The other three occupants of the room were thoroughly confused. At this point, they were all certain that the Clark and Chloe before them weren't the Clark and Chloe they knew. These two really were from the future, if their conversation and Clark's wound was anything to go by.

Lana, however, was the most confused of all. Why would someone set up a trap for Clark? Chloe's words left endless questions in her mind.

'The world doesn't need me, but it needs you!'

Seriously? What was that even suppose to mean! And that... That wound Clark had. His flesh looked charred and burned. It looked dead. How was he even still standing?

And the most important question of all, if Clark and Chloe really were from the future, how did they even get here in the first place?

Clark gripped Chloe tight as she broke down and looked up. He blinked. For a second, he thought he had seen Tess. But Tess was gone. Tess wasn't just gone, he reminded himself, Tess was dead. Tess was dead, and she wasn't coming back.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Chloe finally calmed down in Clark's arms, she stilled. The sobs stopped breaking past her lips, her body ceased it's endless quakes as she just let him hold her. She closed her eyes, finding comfort in this.

It had been a while, since he held her like this.

She remembered when they both started to drift away from another, when that fissure between them first started to grow. A fissure named Davis Bloom, and all the chaos that had come with him. Jimmy's death had haunted them, all of them. Chloe had watched as the entire Justice League was nearly torn apart by that lone death.

All because they couldn't work together, all because there wasn't enough trust, a life was taken, a life was lost, and it was that defining moment that shaped them.

That's when Clark started to change.

That's when he finally accepted who he was.

It was also when he started to walk down a darker road, cutting himself off from the world. They were both guilty of that, really. Clark turned to the Blur leaving the emblem of the House of El marked all over the city.. Chloe turned to Watchtower and transformed into Big Sister, watching, spying, 'protecting'.

Clark patted her back.

Chloe looked up, smiled lightly at him, then let go.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

He nodded mutely.

Silence.

"Would anyone like some coffee?" Martha awkwardly interjected.

"God, yes please. I need my fix." Chloe quickly replied, to which Clark snorted. She glared at him as the silence overtook them once more.

Without a word, the group of five sat down at the table as Martha made herself busy making coffee for them all. Clark was currently resisting the urge to pounce on his father and never let go. Chloe was sitting awkwardly next to him, her hands in her lap, silently plotting a way to over-power her alien best friend so she could heal him. Superpowers or not, he was still three times her size, so pulling that of would be a feat to be remembered. Jonathan was worried, the words 'you're alive' playing over and over inside his skull. Lana, however, was the first to voice her thoughts.

"So..." she began, all eyes moving to her as she glanced back and forth between Clark and Chloe. "Are you two... You know." she gestured between them suggestively.

Two faces stared back at her confused, before it clicked.

"No!" Clark exclaimed, blushing furiously.

"God, no. Just no. No, no." Chloe stated, her face an equal red.

"Oh. Okay." Lana stated, smiling. Good, that was good. She had thought maybe they were together, but finding out they weren't was a positive thing.

Suddenly, Clark started to laugh, his eyes glistening with humor. Eyes turned to him as they all looked at him as if he had just lost his mind.

"What's so funny, farmboy?" Chloe demanded suspiciously.

"Remember that time we woke up married to one another?" Clark laughed.

"WHAT!"

"Oh God, why did you remind me!" Chloe groaned, hiding her face from embarrassment as it started to grow red.

"The look on your face." Clark shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Chloe shook her head and smacked him.

"I nearly killed Zatana for that one!" Chloe growled.

"I know. She told me how you tried to shoot her with Oliver's bow."

"She has magic, I have Oliver's arsenal." Chloe shrugged.

"Wait, explain that!" Lana exclaimed, her eyes going wide at the mention of magic. Her mind instantly went to Isobel, to her ancestor, the witch that had possessed her in search of those mysterious stones. Come to think of it, those stones had some link to Clark... Hmm... She gave one to him, but where did it go after that? Never mind the fact that she was pretty sure she'd murdered someone with that object, nd that she had more or less handed the murder weapon over to Clark in her fear.

Clark sighed, before looking at Chloe.

"You explain?" he pleaded, giving her his best puppy-eyes look.

"That might have worked on me when we were younger, but no more farmboy! She's your girlfriend, after all." Chloe smiled and motioned to Lana.

Clark gulped. He really didn't want to say it. How was he suppose to tell Lana he was engaged in the future to someone who wasn't her? 'Please, don't cry. Please don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...'With that, he turned to face her.

"Our friend Zatana-" Clark began.

"You're friends with a witch?!" Lana exclaimed, jumping up and staring at Clark and Chloe with horror.

"No! She's not a... Well kinda... She's a Magician. Anyways, she sent us a nice little gift for my Engagement party... Let's just say the night got a little on the wild side..."

"I'll say. You stole an armored truck." Chloe laughed. Jaws dropped.

"CLARK JEROME KENT!"

"You're the one who stole the Lemur!" Clark stated.

"And then, you crashed it inside the barn..." Chloe continued, pretending Clark hadn't spoken.

"Clark..." his parents were glaring, much to Chloe's amusement.

"What? It was stolen money anyways in some scam some casino had going! Besides, we returned it." Clark defended.

"After they nearly tortured Emil pretending to be Metropolis PD." Chloe added helpfully.

"Chloe..."

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"Sure. One condition, and I promise, Kent, I will cease my embarrassing reveal of events yet to come."

"And that condition would be?"

"Let me heal you."

"Chloe..."

"Clark..." she mocked in return.

Clark glared at her.

Lana sat back down slowly, before something else clicked. Engagement party. This had all happened during an Engagement party. Did that mean that she and Clark..? She was going to find out.

"What about me and-" Lana began.

"Oh hell no." Chloe interrupted quickly.

"Chloe-" Clark began, glaring at her for her rudeness. Chloe, however, would have none of it.

"Clark, I put up with years of the bullshit that was Clana, alright! No more! Just no. No, no. I love you both to death, I do, but it just is not meant to be. So no." Chloe countered. "Besides, its not like you really love her." Chloe added absentmindedly just as Lana was taking a sip out of the coffee Mrs. Kent had offered her.

Needless to say, she ended up spitting it all instantly at Chloe's words.

"What?" Lana choked out.

"I did love her!" Clark argued.

"Clark, you admitted it yourself. You fell in love with a dream, and never saw the real Lana Lang. You fell, head-over-heels, for a pretty face at the age of 8." Chloe brutally stated. Clark glared at her. Really? Did she have to be so rude about it? Chloe, however, was resolutely not backing down.

"Because of my Meteor Power..." Lana whispered, closing her eyes.

"What? No, Lana." Clark looked at her pleadingly. True, he didn't love her anymore, not like that. His heart belonged to Lois Lane, and Lois Lane alone. But, he still cared about her, and she would always hold a special place in his heart.

"No. It was my power." Lana looked up, her eyes glistening... As usual. "I unconsciously used my pheromones to draw you in-"

"Actually, no you didn't." Chloe said.

Lana blinked. "But... You said-"

"Clarkie here is immune to all that, aren't you boy?" Chloe petted Clark. He batted the hand away and grumbled at her.

"Immune? How is he immune?" Lana frowned.

"Remember Desiree?" Chloe asked. Lana nodded slowly. "Well," Chloe continued pleasantly with a smile that screamed evil painted on her face, "The reason Clark was immune to Desiree... And the reason he's immune to you... Is because Clark has a secret. He's gay, Lana."

"WHAT!"

"I am not gay!"

Chloe gripped his hand across the table, squeezed it, and smiled reassuringly at him with an expression of mock seriousness, her eyes betraying her amusement. "It's okay, Clark. We won't see you any different. It's just the way you are, you special, special boy." Chloe told him gently.

Clark rolled his eyes at Chloe, and, trying hard not to laugh, before he finally spoke. "Of course I'm gay, Chlo. That's why my body reacted so much to your's when you were high off that love-potion laced sports drink and decided to show up in my loft wearing my jersey and nothing else." Clark returned in a mocking tone, squeezing her hand like she had done his.

Lana's jaw dropped. What the hell? When did that happen? Jonathan began to choke on the air around them as Martha's lip quivered against her will.

Chloe snatched her hand away, blushed furiously, and glared.

"All right, you're not gay! Happy?"

Leaning back and taking a sip from his coffee, Clark smiled up at her. "Yep."

"Bastard."

"Bit- bittercup." Clark quickly amended, remembering his parents were in the room. Chloe rolled her eyes and smirked at him.

As Lana watched the entire scene play out, she couldn't help but feel a stinging... Well. Bitterness. She and Clark were lovers, sure. But Clark and Chloe? They knew each other. Their friendship seemed to go beyond the means of a normal friendship. Looking back and forth between the two, she could tell that they shared a bond that ran deep between the pair. It might not be sexual, but it sure as hell was powerful. Clark Kent was eternally tethered to Chloe Sullivan.

Jealousy sparked like a wild fire.

She couldn't help it, no woman could. It didn't matter that the love was platonic, that it existed at all, and that it was as potent as it was, was the problem.

If Lois had been in the room, and miraculously developed the power of telepathy, she'd have been rolling on the ground laughing at Lana's current thoughts.

"What year are you both from." Jonathan interrupted loudly, trying the steer the conversation away from dangerous grounds.

"2015." they answered in unison.

"And how did you both get here?"

The two frowned, before turning to look at one another.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Clark asked.

"You, on the ground, bleeding with that damn knife buried in your gut." Chloe flinched, alongside the rest of the occupants of the table. "You?"

Clark frowned. "There was this... This really bright light. Then, I saw an angel..."

"Clark..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm flattered, I am, but I am not an angel."

"No, it wasn't you."

"It wasn't?"

"No, but you were there. The angel was next to you. She placed a hand on you, then a hand on me, and the next thing I know I'm waking up next to Lana." Clark explained.

Chloe frowned, thinking back. She remembering thinking that she saw Tess, but that was impossible... Or was it?

Silence filled the house. Then, frowning, Lana spoke the question that had been jumping around within her head since the very moment Clark awoke.

"This morning, when you saw me," she began, trying to keep a quiver out of her voice, "Why did you leap away me as if I had some contagious life threatening disease?"

She couldn't meet his gaze. Both Clark and Chloe audibly gulped before looking at one another. Lana had a point, after all. Still, what could they possibly say? Without altering the future too drastically, that is.

"I- um- Huh. Hard question... Um-" Clark stuttered.

"Clark was probably worried about how his fiancee would react if she had walked in the room at the very moment!" Chloe interjected.

"Fiancee?!"

"My boy is getting married?"

Clark turned and glared at Chloe, who shrugged. Great. He knew for a _fact _that his mother was definitely not going to let this one go.

"I think I should go." Lana rose, desperately fighting back the tears. This was all too much, too soon for her.

"Lana-"

"No, I think- I need to- I'm sorry."

Then, like a bat out of hell, she turned and flew out of the house. And, in that moment, no one saw the flash of purple that over took her eyes. As she exited the house, she felt herself double over in sudden pain that had nothing to do with the anguish she personally felt at the time. Had Clark's powers been intact, as they would have been if they had landed a few days after the current date, he would have heard. But none of them heard and none of them noticed.

Lana's eyes glowed as she rose to full height. Perplexed, she walked on, unaware of the spirit currently possessing her, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.


	4. Stuck

A/N: Antarians are a reference to Roswell, which ran for three years on the WB and later on UPN. Think Kryptonian, except instead of them having physical powers like strength and speed, they have mental ones.

Sunnydale is obviously a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. More specifically, it's a reference to my other time travel story involving Smallville, Strategic Retreat where Chloe(and Connor) end up traveling to the past during Glory's reign in Sunnydale.

Anyways, on with the story.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Stuck**

"Well," Chloe began as the door slammed shut behind Lana, causing the others to turn towards her. "I think that went rather well, don't you?" she asked, ignoring the incredulous looks she received in return.

"You're getting married?" Martha spoke up. Yup. She really wasn't going to let that one go. Of course, Clark had known that from the second had left Chloe's lips, but a man couldn't help but hope, right?

"Please, he's been trying to tie the knot for the past five years. They even tried the Vegas root once and even then the city was attacked by a swarm of..." Chloe frowned, trying to remember.

"Antarians." Clark grumbled, crossing his arms in annoyance. With most opponents, at least Clark could fight back. Fighting an entire species of psionics, however, that could toss him around like a rag doll? That, Clark couldn't fight. Sure, they couldn't actually hurt him by tossing him around endlessly, but it was still annoying.

"Huh. Better than the time with the vamp." Chloe commented casually, chugging down the remains of her coffee.

"What's an Antarian?" Jonathan frowned, confused.

"More aliens, like Clarkie." Chloe waved it off, standing and making her way to the sink to wash her mug. "Except, unlike Clarkie and Kryptonians in general, their powers aren't so much physical as mental."

"The planet gets invaded by aliens?" Martha spoke up, alarmed, remembering the destructive damage wrought by the advent of Zod's Disciples ripping their path through Smallville. Clark might not be violent, but other Kryptonians? Or these mysterious Antarians? They were an entirely different story.

"No, They were just after Clark. They wanted to turn him into their ultimate super weapon through mind control." Chloe answered as she dried her mug and placed it back with the other coffee cups.

Clark hissed slightly. What was it with people trying to turn him into their own personal hit-alien?

"Shouldn't we be discussing how to get back to our own time instead of just sitting here?" Clark interrupted. Loudly. Talk of his and Lois' many failed attempted to getting the damn ring on one another's fingers usually put him in such a mood. If it wasn't assassins, it was Connor on red K. If it wasn't Connor on red K, it was _Lana,_ of all people, on red K. Then, there was the time Lex sent a wedding gift in the form of a cybernetic version of himself.

"Have either of you ever time traveled before like this?" Jonathan asked, still trying to wrap his mind around the issue, while simultaneously resisting the urge to yell at his son for having sex in his house due to the tiny factor that this Clark had committed that transgression years ago, not several hours beforehand.

Clark turned to give Chloe a look.

"Don't look at me, you're the one who constantly gets tossed through time holes."

"Alternate dimensions, Chlo. I get flung through alternate dimensions. You, on the other hand, once managed to get yourself and Connor trapped-"

"_Connor_ got us trapped in the past! And, that was fundamentally different than this situation!"

"How so?"

"This is Smallville, not a giant sinkhole that once situated the Hellmouth."

"So? Same difference! Smallville was hit by not one, but two radioactively charged meteor showers, Chloe."

"Clark, it's completely different! Sunnydale was situated over a supernatural hotspot! Magic, not science and radiation!"

"Both bend reality. As far as I'm concerned, they're more or less the same." Clark shrugged.

Chloe rolled her eyes. Again. Clark was certain that they'd eventually just fall right out of her skull if she continued keeping that up.

"Clark, if I shoot you with a ray gun, it won't even graze you. If I blast you with a magical telekinetic blast with the same intensity, however, I'll leave you in the hospital within an inch of your life."

"..."

"Still want to argue with me?"

"While the core dynamics are different, the effects are fundamentally similar in their end result. It's merely the journey that changes. Therefore, Miss Sullivan, time travel achieved through universal physical laws would work the same as time travel achieved by magical means which defy all physics, meaning that's how we can get back." Clark countered.

"One problem with your little theory, Clarkie." Chloe didn't bother to elaborate as she sat back down, turning to face him.

Martha blinked at the two of them for several seconds. At first when they had both shown up, she'd had the nagging feeling there was a little something more going on behind the scenes in the relationship between her son and Chloe. Now, however, as she stared at them she was faintly reminded of a pair of twins she'd once known at Metropolis High who had the uncanny ability to simultaneously complete each other's sentences and disagree on any single issue in dozens of different ways at the same time.

"Which would be?" Clark asked. The pair seemed to have completely forgot they had an audience of two very confused parents/humans.

Chloe lifted a hand and motioned to her own body, then at Clark's. He lifted an eyebrow at her as if to say, 'so what?'

Exasperated, Chloe explained. "We have_ bodies_ in this timeline, Clark. When me and Connor got flung back, we kept our own physical bodies. This time, we're in our past selves body. Think of it as an advanced possession, except, in reality, it can't be a possession because we share the same soul as the bodies we both ended up in."

Clark stared at her, dumbfolded. So much for Kryptonian super-intellect...

Chloe smacked him upside the head. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have mattered. Today, Clark was depowered, however, and he exclaimed a loud "Owe!"

"We merged with our past selves, Clark! We can't just leave, we'll end up taking their bodies with us!" Chloe exclaimed.

Silence met this declaration.

"So... What you're saying is... The two of you are stuck here?" Jonathan interjected.

Clark jumped. He'd completely forgotten his father's presence in the room.

"Unless we can figure not only a way back but also a way to separate our future selves from our present selves, then-"

Clark groaned loudly. causing Chloe to turn and give him a look.

"Lo' and I were planning on having a quick wedding the second you got back. We decided to screw the vows and get right down to 'you may kiss the bride', but now..." Clark explained, annoyance heavily evident in his voice.

Chloe stared at him for a total of ten seconds before she, much to his chagrin, broke out into giggles, undeterred by the glare Clark subjected her to.

* * *

Lex Luthor scanned the report in front of him, before closing the laptop. His eyes narrowed as his face frowned in thought. A massive energy burst was detected by his satellites early this morning. Three guesses at the famed origin.

The Kent barn. Although, there was also a shorter energy burst coming from a different corner in Smallville, from the Sullivan residence. What did it all mean, Lex wondered?

He knew Clark was hiding something from him. He shared everything with that boy, trusted him, loved him like a brother, and still, Clark lied. He lied, he lied, he lied. He wouldn't even admit he was lying! Yes, Lex knew he was power hungry for the truth. but was it too much to ask for the only true friend he had ever had to be honest with him?

And then, there was the factor of Chloe. She knew. She knew Clark's secret. Clark couldn't trust him, despite the numerous times Lex had saved Clark too many times that he could count, but he could tell Chloe, a _reporter!_

Lex sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but this... It hurt. It really hurt. At one point, Lex had looked Clark in the eyes and told him that he was the light that kept him from falling from grace. As corny as that had sounded, it was the truth. Lex was corrupt. He knew that. Growing up with Lionel Luthor, it was impossible to not be corrupt.

But Clark? He was good, and pure, and bright and shining. Innocent, naive and childlike, despite his age. Still, Clark's insatiable habit of lying for hours on end quite simply left Lex shaking with uncontrollable rage.

Why didn't he trust him?

Why, why, why!

Okay, Lex was the first to admit that sending assassins after Clark to discover what the young farm boy was hiding was a bit overboard, but Lex was a scientist at heart, and, as such his need to know was sometimes downright uncontrollable, and, by sometimes, he meant every moment of each day that passed that his little brother lied to him. Repeatedly. And horribly. Honestly, there were moments where Lex even considered hiring a body expression's expert to train Clark in the art of deception.

He wondered briefly if he should even bother asking Clark why there was a massive energy reading at his house. He supposed it be useless. Lex doubted he'd get the truth anyways.

One way or another, however, Lex was determined. He would learn Clark Kent's secret, if it was the last thing he did.


End file.
